Balanced scoring, tight defense lead CUA to convincing win

TOWSON, Md. – The CUA women’s basketball team raced out to a 40-23 halftime lead over Goucher on Saturday and the Cardinals never looked back as they earned a 67-46 win over the Gophers in the 2010-11 conference opener.  CUA had terrific balance on offense with four players scoring at least nine points led by Jill Woerner’s 17.

Woerner scored her 17 points on 5 of 9 shooting as well as a 7 of 8 showing at the foul line.  Katarina Owunna, Jenny McGann and Emily Grabiak each scored nine points, while Liz Briones added six for CUA (4-1 overall, 1-0 Landmark Conference).

The Cardinals outrebounded the Gophers 49-41 with Woerner and Owunna pulling down nine boards apiece, and four different CUA players handed out two assists.

Goucher (0-5, 0-1) was led in scoring by Leia Roberts-Brown with 11 points as the Gophers were held to 31 percent shooting from the field and 14 percent from beyond the three-point arc.  CUA forced Goucher into 27 turnovers and the home team had only seven assists.

CUA scored the game’s first nine points and after eight minutes of play, the Cardinals led by 14, 18-4.  After Goucher cut it to a nine-point contest with 10:54 to play in the opening half CUA ran off seven straight capped by Grabiak’s layup at the 6:33 mark to go in front 25-9.

The Cardinals maintained their double-digit lead for the remainder of the opening half, stretching it to as many as 19 on Brielle Crites’ three-pointer with 1:21 on the clock. 

After a Kiara Doughty layup made it a 38-23 game, Woerner got free for a basket with only one tick remaining to send the Cardinals into intermission with a comfortable 40-23 advantage.

With three minutes gone in the second half, Grabiak and Owunna scored back-to-back baskets for the Cardinals as they opened up a 20-point lead, 47-27.

Jenny McGann’s free throw at the 14:50 mark made it a 21-point game, and her layup a minute-and-a-half later again set the margin at 21.

CUA continued to pour it on as the second half moved along as Owunna’s basket with 9:25 to play made it a 25-point game, and her score less than a minute later opened up a 27-point advantage.

A pair of Rachel Ferri free throws with 6:37 on the clock put the Cardinals on top by a 62-33 count, while Holly Janicki’s jumper at the 5:43 mark pushed the lead over 30 points (64-33).  From there CUA cruised to the victory as the Cardinals earned their third win away from home and opened the conference slate with a convincing win.

CUA will be off this week before returning to action on Saturday, December 11 when the Cardinals take on Washington College on the road.  Tip-off is set for 2:00.